JVC KD-SX780 Car CD Player

When I decided I wanted to replace my factory deck with something a little more snazzy and useful, I headed over to my local big box electronics store to see what they had. I had decided that the feature I wanted most was an auxiliary input on the front of the unit, so that I could plug in my iPod and listen to it on the road. The large display featured only two such models, both made by JVC. The first was the one I eventually bought, the KD-SX780. The other was the higher-end model, which provides higher fidelity sound, but the same features:

- Detachable flip-down face
- 200W peak power, 60W RMS average power
- cEQ pre-programmed equalizer settings
- Multicolor LCD display (white, blue, red, green)
- Rotary volume/control knob
- Beep function (beeps when you press a button)
- CD Changer controller
- 4-line out (left front, left right, rear left, rear right)
- Front AUX input (3.5mm headphone-style jack)
- CD-R/CD-RW playback
- Remote control
- 18 FM and 6 AM presets
- Ability to change EQ settings depending on the source
- CD functions such as repeat, shuffle

In the box, you get:

- The KD-SX780 deck
- A remote control
- A case for the detachable face
- A wiring harness
- A mounting sleeve for DIN-style decks
- An operation manual
- Installation instructions
- Warranty stuff

I'll start with the installation, since it's the first thing you'll likely encounter. Since every car is different, I won't bore you with the specifics of my car. The JVC wiring harness uses industry-standard color codes for the wires, including four speakers, power, and a wire to activate a power antenna or CD changer (or both). You will need to either cut the cables in your car, or buy a second cable harness that will mate with the connectors in your car. If the idea of cutting wires behind the dash of your car makes you squeamish, get a pro to install your deck. It's not as easy as putting in a light bulb!

If you have a 1998 Mercury Mystique (like I have) with the Premium audio package (or something similar by Ford), you will need to remove your glove box to get at the amplifier. Then, you will bypass the amp and run a new wire harness from the new deck to the connector that goes directly to the speakers. It's a few hours of work, but it can be done!

Once you have the deck installed (or had it installed), you need to do a few basic things like program the clock and equalizer settings. The clock, as well as some other features like fade and balance, are accessed by pressing a single button for a few seconds. From there, you use the CD player controls and the volume control to switch between and adjust the settings to your liking. The display clearly indicates which setting you're working with, so setting up your deck is a no-brainer, especially if you follow the instructions.

You can easily set the EQ setting by a different button. By pressing it repeatedly, you can select between five preset EQ settings. Or, you can adjust bass and treble independently to your liking. One cool feature of this deck is that you can have it automatically change the EQ setting depending on the source. Since this deck features three sets of FM presets, you could divide your favorite radio stations into genres, and assign presets accordingly.

Using the radio is easy. One button switches between the three sets of FM presets (3 sets x 6presets each = 18 total FM presets) and six AM presets. You can use the seek function to scan to the next strongest station, or tune the stations manually. The deck also has a feature that fills the presets with the strongest stations in the area. Programming a preset is also easy. Like most any other deck, just hold down the preset button while tuned to the station you want, and it is programmed in.

The CD player functions just like any other CD player you'd use. It has play, pause, skip forward and back buttons, etc. It also has the standard shuffle play, repeat and repeat one track functions. It is able to playback both regular and CD-R and CD-RW discs, for those of you who create your own music CDs. To insert a CD, press the eject button on the face to make the face flip down. The CD will be ejected. Once you insert a new CD, simply flip up the face and press play.

This deck is also able to control an external CD changer, but as I do not have one installed, I cannot say how easy it is to use in real life. However, it seems easy enough from the manual, so I'll just leave it at that.

Now for the feature I desired most in a car deck: the auxiliary input! With this simple little plug, I can attach my iPod MP3 player and have 4 days of music at my fingertips. Naturally, you could also attach any other portable device to this input, such as a Minidisk player, laptop computer, or (parents, don't allow this) a gameboy. The AUX input volume is a little quiet; I'll talk more about that later.

The KD-SX780 has a second input on the back of the unit, to which you'd attach the CD changer or other device (DVD player, anyone?) It uses a special plug that converts RCA-style plugs into an all-in-one plug that attaches to the deck. This type of thing would almost certainly require SOME extra wiring to be laid in your car, and this time it really is in the realm of the professionals.

As I mentioned in the features run-down above, the face on this deck is detachable. You can remove the face, which contains all the buttons to control the deck, and take it with you in the included carry case. This is a pretty effective theft deterrent if you need to park your car in an unsafe place.

Finally, the unit comes with a small keychain remote control. With it, you can control volume, CD functions, radio functions, power, and source all from the back seat. If this would be useful to you, then all the better.

Now, some other nifty things:

- You can quickly drop the volume down to a whisper by pressing the power button quickly. Pressing it again, or turning the volume knob, will bring the volume up to the previous level.
- You can see the current time even when the car is off, by pressing the "disp" button
- The deck features a tiny graphic display of the audio level, and can display two different patterns.
- You can lock a CD into the deck so that no-one changes your music. Or steals it. Or burns it in a fire because they hate it with a passion. You can't please everyone!

That pretty much covers all the features of this deck. It really is quite easy to use, and you can at least control the volume without looking, thanks to the unique shape of the volume knob. A quick glance is all you need to change the station, or switch to a different source.


Some important tech specs:

Frequency range: 40 Hz to 20,000 Hz
Power: 19W RMS per channel into 4 ohms average, 50W peak.
THD: 0.8% maximum at any frequency
SNR: 70dB
Tone Control: /- 10dB at 100Hz for bass, /- 10dB at 10kHz for treble
FM Tuner Response: 40Hz to 15,000kHz, 35dB stereo separation


Now, nearly any product you'll come across has its weak point(s). The main thing I have a problem with is the size of the lesser-used (but certainly not disused) buttons. These include the display and EQ buttons, the eject button, and most of all the power button. The power button is this little triangle squished underneath the CD controls and is dangerously close to the button for detaching the face; it's as if they had forgotten to put one on, and added it when they had finished the rest. In any case, it's a bit of a fumble to press, especially if you have to do it fast (like to use the attenuator function I described above). The display and EQ buttons are a bit better, off in the bottom right with a bit of backlight to make them easier to see, but still not as easy to use as I'd like.

I find that the only control I can easily use without having to look at the deck is the volume control. The CD controls are okay to use without looking, but not perfect. Changing radio stations usually requires looking for a split second, then you can move between them without looking. The rest of the controls are almost impossible to use without looking, especially since most have some sort of visual feedback so you know what you're doing.

Finally, a little gripe about the auxiliary input I needed so much. When I switch from headphones to car stereo with my iPod, there is a very big difference in volume. It's as if the deck is expecting a full-volume line-level signal, which would be way too loud to listen to on headphones. While the deck has an option to increase the input levels, it still isn't quite enough of a boost, meaning I always have to turn up my iPod's or the deck's volume.

So that's it; there are only minor complaints here! The KD-SX780 has all the features I need and want in a car deck, with few annoyances. I have the option to add an external amplifier later on if I choose, perhaps even a sub if I use a crossover. If this deck has all the features you're looking for, especially a front-mounted AUX-in, then look no further. It looks real sweet cranking out my tunes as I drive around, as it would in YOUR car.